Appeal filed in Michael Brelo case dismissed

An appeal filed in May by Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty in the Michael Brelo case has been dimissed.

McGinty was asking the court to correct what he calls legal 'errors' in the ruling. Prosecutors claim the state did not have to prove the shots fired by Officer Brelo were solely responsible for the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. They also claim Judge John O'Donnell incorrectly applied laws that allow officers to use deadly force and that Judge O'Donnell considered the wrong lesser charges in the case.

The Court of Appeals denied the case Wednesday.

Following the annoucement, Cleveland police union president Stephen Loomis released this statement:

Based in part on the CPPA filing a brief in opposition to prosecutor McGinty's appeal of the Brelo verdict, we are pleased to report the Honorable Court of Appeals has dismissed McGinty's appeal.Once again prosecutors McGinty's attempt to manipulate the Criminal Justice System with far reaching and politically motivated antics has failed miserably!We look forward to the day the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors office is lead by a person motivated by integrity and character and not politics or personal agenda.

Cleveland Police Officer Michael Brelo was found not guilty May 15, 2015, of two counts of voluntary manslaughter for the deaths of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, and not guilty of lesser charges of felonious assault.